Holderness confirmed to the Intercept that she had spoken with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about Porter. "I do not know the details of Rob's personal life". "He left visible marks when he punched me and I have pictures of that".

Mr Porter's second wife, Jennifer Willoughby, also described for the DailyMail.com how Mr Porter once dragged her naked and wet from the shower to yell at her.

This isn't the first time that people close to the president have been accused of improprieties.

Porter has recently been linked romantically to White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. During an argument, Willoughby punched a glass window and cut his hand, reports the Daily Mail.

Holderness told the Daily Mail she met Porter at a Mormon church in 2000, while they were both in college.

You just can't make this stuff up. Maybe so - if not for two things. So how did he get hired? If a White House would have changed their story, or been reluctant to fire the man who committed acts of domestic violence the howls of scorn would have been volcanic, but in the Trump White House a man who commits crimes against women is a typical Wednesday. Less Infowars, moreWall Street Journal. Kelly also encouraged Porter to "stay and fight" instead of walking away from his job.

The Daily Mail reported that Mr Porter did not receive security clearance for his White House job after the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed his ex-wives during background checks.

Asked on Wednesday why Porter would resign if Kelly still had faith in him, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said, "It was a personal decision that Rob made and one that he was not pressured to do but that he made on his own". "I am proud to serve alongside him", John Kelly, President Donald Trump's chief of staff, said. Per CBS News: "That information was passed on to the White House". Sanders declined to comment on Porter's security clearance.

Porter began traveling more frequently in Trump's entourage, including last month's trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Kelly was aware of a 2010 protective order Willoughby obtained against Porter and the order kept Porter from obtaining a full security clearance, a senior administration official told Politico. Now his boss is saddled with awful headlines about a wife-beater in the West Wing.

Before joining the White House, Porter served as chief of staff to Sen.

Rob has been accused of domestic abuse - which he has denied. He should answer for this, if not to the public than to Trump.

But in a new statement on Wednesday, Hatch said he was "heartbroken" by the allegations against Porter, saying he had been a beloved staff member and trusted adviser.